Wednesday January 13th

The individuals listed have been cited/arrested/charged in Troup County. However, this is not an admission of guilt. All parties are considered innocent until proved guilty.

• Friday afternoon about 12:19 p.m., LaGrange Police responded to the 200 block of Render Street in reference to Criminal Damage to Property.

Officers arrived and spoke with the complainant, who stated her black Cadillac Deville had been damaged. According to the victim the vehicle had been damaged sometime approximately within the last 24 hours.

Police inspected the vehicle and observed the rear windshield had been broken out along with scratches covering the entire vehicle.

The victim stated that she had no idea who was responsible for the damage.

This incident is still under investigation.

• Friday afternoon about 12:25 p.m., officers took a walk-in report at the La-Grange Police Department in reference to Identity Fraud.

The female complainant stated she needed to file a report because while she was filing her taxes, her account was flagged due to someone using her name and social security number.

The victim stated she did not know who had been using her identity, but she stated in August of last year, she first became aware someone may be using her name. She stated that when she was ‘recertifying her children,’ she was asked if she still currently worked at Dye’s Dust Control, but she never worked there.

This incident is still under investigation.

• Friday afternoon about 4:50 p.m., officers took a walk-in report at the LaGrange Police Department in reference to Fraud.

Officers spoke with the female complainant, who advised she believes a subject by the name Derrick Middlebrooks had swindled her out of thousands of dollars.

The victim stated she was contacted by Middlebrooks in reference to getting her son out of prison. According to the victim, Middlebrooks told her that he works for Tort Master International Law Group and was currently incarcerated at Calhoun State Prison.

The victim stated the subject told her that he would work on getting her son out of prison for $12,000, so she began wiring money to his sister starting in September. Since then, she has sent Paypal cards, bought Middlebrooks some books, and put money on his prison account.

The victim explained that at the time, she honestly believed Middlebrooks was going to help her and believed he was in the prison trying to work out some issues while incarcerated.

Later the victim’s family began telling her they thought she might have been scammed, so she performed a web search on Middlebrooks and discovered information indicating he was a scam artist accused of impersonating a lawyer in prison.

The victim stated she has spoken with the subject’s sister a few times, who claims to not know what her brother is up to or what he does with the money.

The victim advised she has given Middlebrooks roughly $12,200 since they first began corresponding.

Records indicate a subject by the name Derrick Middlebrooks is currently serving a 30 year sentence at Calhoun State Prison for Trafficking Cocaine.

This incident is still under investigation by the La-Grange Police Department Criminal Investigation.

• Friday evening about 5:28 p.m., LaGrange Police responded to the 100 block of Gallant Street in reference to a Residential Burglary.

Officers arrived and spoke to the victim, who explained her home had been burglarized while she was away between 7:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. She stated she arrived home to find her front door was broken and the bedrooms inside were ransacked.

Police observed damage to the front door consistent with being kicked in. There were also items all over the floor and several drawers pulled from furniture in the bedrooms.

Missing from the residence was pink Betsy Johnson watch, valued at $120, a bronze and diamond Bulova watch, valued at $700, a jar containing about $200 in cash and change, a key fob for the victim’s vehicle, valued at $100, and miscellaneous clothing items valued at about $200.

Officers processed the location for fingerprints and canvassed the area for any potential witnesses, but no one reported seeing or hearing anything unusual.

This incident is still under investigation.

• Saturday afternoon about 1:45 p.m., LaGrange Police responded to the Circle K fuel station on Roanoke Road in reference to Shoplifting.

Officers arrived and spoke the store clerk, who advised an older female with blond hair has been hanging around the store all day asking for money and drinking heavily. The clerk stated a customer told her that the female stole Steel Reserve beer, valued at $1.49, from the store, so she went and viewed security video and confirmed the theft.

Police also reviewed the video, which showed the female walk directly to the beer section and then dart to the bathroom with the beer in her hand. She then emerged from the bathroom less than 5 seconds later without the beer and clutching her purse and fled the store.

Officers were then advised that an intoxicated elderly female was at the nearby Burger King, so officers relocated there, thinking it might be the same subject.

Upon their arrival, officers were approached by a witness, who stated there was a heavily intoxicated woman in the restaurant and she was heavily intoxicated and openly drinking beer.

Police then located the same female from the Circle K sitting in the rear corner of the restaurant. According to officers, she was so intoxicated they could barely understand her speech.

The female, later identified as Linda Foley, of Columbus, Georgia, was also unsteady on her feet that she could not walk on her own without assistance.

As a result, Foley, age 60, was arrested and transported to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office where she was booked into the jail and charged with Public Drunkenness and Theft by Shoplifting – Less than $500.

Foley is currently being held at the Troup County Jail on $2,000 bond.